Abstract

The present study investigated effects of germination and fermentation on protein quality of the wheat flour. The wheat seeds were obtained locally and were divided into three portions and processed as raw wheat flour (RWF), germinated wheat flour (GWF) and fermented wheat flour (FWF) respectively. The samples were analysed for chemical and protein qualities using standard methods. Protein content (g/100g) varied between 10.77±0.66 (RWF) and 13.70±0.30 (FWF). Mineral composition of RWF, GWF and FWF had potassium as the highest while zinc (RWF and FWF) and nickel (GWF) were the least. For amino acid, glutamic acid was the most abundant; while cysteine (RWF and FWF) and methionine (GWF) were the least. Total essential amino acid plus histidine and arginine range between 26.4% (FWF) and 37.9% (GWF). For protein efficiency ratio (PER), RWF had the highest value (1.99), while GWF had the least (0.86), while for  the essential amino acid index (EAAIs), RWF was higher than that of GWF and FWF. Similarly, the biological value of RWF (31.8%) was higher than those of GWF (29.4%) and FWF (29.1%) sample respectively. The anti-nutrient compositions of the wheat flour samples were low, while phytate:zinc, phytate:calcium, (Ca)(phytate):zinc and phytate:iron molar ratios  were lower than the critical values. Bulk density (BD) ranged between 0.80±0.04 and 0.86±0.02, swelling capacity (SC) 0.0±0.03 and 1.23±0.21, water absorption capacity (WAC) 315 and 415% and least gellation 3.33±1.10 and 14.6±1.16%. The finding concluded that the employed processing methods, particularly fermentation, influenced the chemical composition of the wheat flour in terms of protein content and reduction of anti-nutrient composition. 

Key words: Germinated wheat flour, fermented wheat flour, nutritional quality.